Win! Nuisance calls bosses will be hit with big fines

When I get calls on my mobile I add them to my blocked caller list. For iPhones I get the option to block a caller when I create a new contact; I imagine Androids and other phone swill have a similar function.

good luck!

I don’t know about Android but on my iphone you can block numbers by adding them to your contacts & then opting to block them. Seems to work ok. Or you could try an app such as the imaginatively named Call Blocker by unknownphone.com which has a basic free setting detecting 300 known dangerous numbers with the option to block more numbers for free at a limited rate per week or a more advanced option of 2000 known troublesome numbers for a cost of £4.99 for 3 months. I just use the free setting myself. Might be worth a look?

Iain, I block them too but they just keep calling from different numbers. I also ask them to take me off their list and not call again but they keep calling.

Yes Janice that is what happens to me to.I can`t see any way round this.

Blocking individual numbers is a fools errand as the scammers spoof the CLI “presentation number” and present a different number each time they call. The only effective approach is that adopted by trueCall where callers from all unknown numbers must complete a verbal challenge before your phone will ring. Scammers and nuisance callers simply hang up and your phone remains silent.

I get calls and have found that if you listen to what they are asking and then think 1 step ahead of them that will stop them ringing. Utimately they want to either sell you something or make money from your experiences, thats why they’re fishing to see if you have had a car accident. If they ask are you the homeowner, even if you are, say No, I rent my property, that will them deem you useless to them because most things they sell will mean you taking a loan out that is secured on your property. If they say you’ve had an accident, just say no I stopped driving a few years ago as my eyesight has deteriorated (or something, anything). That way, if they think you have no assets, and you no longer drive, etc, they will stop calling you. Its when people hang up, they will almost certainly ring you again, afterall they want something from you and until they know their wasting your time they will continue to hound you. I do this and my calls are less and less these days, so it does work, try it and see for yourself. .

Thats a good peaceful philosophy C.Patison have you studied Zen , you are obviously at peace with the Universe.
Obviously an “old soul ” .

Call Blocker is absolutely brilliant. We’ve had it for just over a year now and it’s so easy to use, either directly on the base by pressing the big red button or entering a quick code on your handset. Unfortunately a lot of firms are now showing as being ‘local’ in order to get you to answer their call when in fact they’re often not even in the UK. I regularly get ‘local’ calls which the base set shows as being from Dubai, the Maldives and Somalia, among others – they’re SO annoying. Even if they are UK based I’m told it’s perfectly legal to disguise your number as being a ‘local’ one, so perhaps this is something else that Which could look at getting stopped, at least from UK companies.

CPR call-blocker Cee Cee ? Snap I have had one for three years–like hitting that big red -block now button but a lot of them are VoIP , to stop them –
Dial tone>input>**7#6*#> you will hear a bleep on success.

Duncan – reading C.Patison’s comment again I note that his philosophy depends on telling untruths to people on the phone. Does that sit comfortably with the teachings of Zen?

The teachings of Zen Buddhism is to be at peace with yourself and the world round about you , he is using peaceful means to stop the scammers .
Yes I am not happy with lying but it is the lessor of two evils when dealing with evil people , personally I would just confront them but all I have to do now it hit a big red button with -Block Now on it.
Now that makes me feel better.

One of Zen Buddhism,s teachings is total spontaneity and ultimate freedom its a reflex action on a philosophical level complete openness.

I don’t have any qualms about lying to scammers.

After all, isn’t it more polite to “speak their language” when conversing with them?

Well somebody doesn’t like my posts here I got a non certificated scam email inviting me to click on a Google URL .
It was 2 hours ahead of the UK meaning its coming from the Middle East area .
At the same time I have now got several invitations on web-pages to visit hard porn websites .
Sorry guys and gal I have no intention of leaving myself open to blackmail nor am I about to click onto a malware email.
Aviation Specialists does exist as a genuine website and organisation in the USA but not when attached to such an obvious low tech scam email.

I have Talk Talk call barring but I get scam calls from Talk Talk only from, 0128951456, 10284142698, 10289295735, 01287667137, 01280557503 telephone company is issuing these numbers so fine them as well.

My biggest source of nuisance calls come from Talk Talk scammers the telephone companies that are supplying them with 018 numbers should be fined

We shouldnt be getting the calls in the first place
So how do we report these people or companys

Action Fraud Alison –
https://reporting.actionfraud.police.uk/login

Many thanks for that tip Athlyn! I’ve now included the new Call Safe in my package.

For those TT customers who don’t yet know, just dial 1472 to get the automated message and press 1 to confirm and that’s it.

The text in the TT confirmation email, says:
“Say hello to CallSafe – your new privacy feature
CallSafe is now protecting you from unwanted calls. Your home phone will screen all unfamiliar phone numbers and block any unwanted callers, so you only speak to the people that matter. Manage your blocked and approved lists by dialling 1472 or in My Account. Any numbers you’ve recently called have been added to your CallSafe approved list and any numbers you’ve blocked using the Last Caller Barring privacy feature have been automatically transferred over to your CallSafe blocked list. If you’d like extra help with CallSafe, please visit our FAQ page. We hope you enjoy the peace and quiet that comes with your new privacy feature.”

A big Thank you to TalkTalk! – let’s hope other providers are or soon will be offering the same to their subscribers…

If you had remained a TalkTalk customer you could have activated the free Call Safe service. This emulates the features of trueCall but is built into the telephone network itself. All unknown callers must complete a verbal challenge before your phone will ring. Scammers and nuisance callers simply hang up and your phone remains silent. Sky has a similar system, called Sky Shield.

These are far superior to BT Call Protect which has a number of serious flaws.

E.Slater – change the number of rings on your answering machine to 2 rings.
It can be done in the programming.

Simon -car insurance ? now that could be traceable .
Make out you are interested and want more information then when you get passed to a UK company instead of a call-service ASK who they are and where are their UK headquarters .
From that info you can get a real local telephone number -then report them as using illegal services to canvas unsolicited calls.

If it works for you Brian fine but many have found it lacking in areas.

Sounds interesting I will look into TPS

Unfortunately many organisations use the TPS as a ‘suckers list’ of vulnerable people that they can exploit, so it’s doubtful whether it works.

Given that sales calls from telemarketers are likely to decline now that their directors are personally liable for fines, it’s quite likely that registering with the TPS will actually INCREASE the number of calls that you receive from fraudsters !

Several years ago I read that those registered with TPS receive more nuisance calls than those that are not registered, but that’s probably because you are more likely to register if you have a problem with calls.

It’s crazy that it is still legal for anyone to make unsolicited calls for the purpose of marketing or market research.

You are so lucky Brian – I’ve never had any luck with TPS, despite being registered for over 15 years and with three different landline numbers.

Its not luck Cee Cee its lack of powers to carry out their duties as a public assistance organisation -“de-toothed ” by HMG.
Also there is so much information on us already half the world are really neighbours . Some in India know more about your next door neighbour than you do.
I gave up on the TPS years ago.

Dont bother contacting the TPS Janet as I along with most of the UK have found its a “toothless tiger ” and wont stop you getting scam/sales calls even if you are ex directory .
If you want to report it then click on-
https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/nuisance-calls-and-messages/
here is a link on that webpage for public reporting https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/
Please remember Janet they will ONLY stop legitimate UK companies from calling you not the majority of “International”/VoIP/ etc etc calls.

Brian, I think those numbers should be reported, red flagged and then blocked at the exchange.

That way a few might still receive scam calls from them, but hopefully they’d soon be blocked.

But, there is not reason in principle why calls coming from spoofed fake numbers could not be automatically authenticated and blocked when that failed.

We shouldn’t have to accept this Dr. McLauchlin its part of modern methods of public communications ,which in the future will be the”normal method” of telephonic communications.
The “now ” biggest USA communications company -Verizon is, and has started to introduce a method for cell-net communication in the USA that can recognise and block those calls before they ring .
But the USA is ahead of us in this direction by some years .
Sadly it is not available here in the UK and only applies to the USA internally (at the moment ).
Of course legitimate companies use this method to obfuscate their location in the interests of globalisation.

TPS dissuades legimate companies from calling you for marketing purposes.

TPS has no effect on calls that are scams nor should it. These require a completely different approach.

TPS dissuades legitimate companies from calling you for marketing purposes.

TPS has no effect on calls that are scams, nor should it. These require a completely different approach.

I don’t see why any company or other organisation should be allowed to disturb me with a phone call and even if I am a customer, there needs to be a very good reason for calling unless I have opted-in. Others are welcome, but I expect that most people do not want to receive unsolicited calls.

You should have added non-legitimate companies Ian and also the heavily disguised “out of area ” calls that hide their real location done by some UK companies .

The government (along with Which? for that matter) supports the notion that businesses can make cold calls. This explains why there is still no actual ban on cold calling, merely numerous tweks to wooly and demonstrably ineffective legisation.